For organizing bookmarks and web material, bookmarks are the right thing, and it’s only too bad that there isn’t something similar in Mac for your files. While files are theoretically organized into folders, there is often the problem of distinguishing identical files that are, in fact, different versions. It isn’t just the file names that make it hard to find them again; often you forget what a file is called, or don’t have the time to add it to the right folder. Favorites is a Mac app worth $4.99 in the Mac App Store that lets you rate files by their importance. It acts as an organizer for these rated files, and lets you create folders for the type of files you need to mark. Files can be filtered by their rating or searched for. The app also lets you quickly preview a file, or open it.

Download, install and launch the app, and you will be taken through a brief setup. You can revisit these steps from the app’s preferences any time if you decide to skip them on the initial run. Favorites has a simple interface; the panel on the left has ratings under the heading Favorites, and locations that you’ve added under Folders. By default. three folders are added, and you can add more or delete the existing ones. The app does not index files that you have not added to it, so the existing folders will be empty. The panel on the right is where you drop files that you want to add.

If you want to add a file to a particular folder, select it from the left panel and then drag & drop the file onto the app. Once added, hover your mouse over the file and three buttons will appear. From left to right, the buttons let you rate, open, and delete a file. To add and rate multiple files at once, select the rating from the left panel and drag & drop all files onto the app.

To add a folder, click the plus sign at the bottom of the left panel, enter a name for the folder and hit Save. Click Folder, and the list of existing folders will appear. The search bar on the top right allows you to search files by name, after which you can use the starred rating in the left panel to narrow your search down.

Favorites also has a password protection feature that allows you to restrict who has access to the app. You can create a password during the initial walkthrough, or, you can go to the app’s preferences to set it. The Lock button at the top will secure the app behind the password, and you will have to unlock it before you can use Favorites again.

When you delete a file from Favorites, it is only removed from the app’s index (along with its ratings and folder classification). However, it remains on your hard drive. Although Favorites is slightly costly, it makes organizing files super quick, and when you’re buried under work, a quick way to mark your file is well worth the $4.99. As opposed to adding Spotlight comments or creating a folder anywhere in your hard drive (or just the desktop), drag & drop is much easier, too.